Parade Ground, Malta

Ticket scan - thanks to fordwebb

Banner at Sting concert, Malta

Concert ad & banner thanks to Charles Marsh

Capacity: 13,000
Concert starts: 8:30pm (doors open at 6pm)

Address of venue: Luxol Car Park (ex-Parade Ground), Triq Sant Andrija, Pembroke, Malta. MAP

Website: NnGPromotions.com.

Tickets for this show went on sale through NnGPromotions.com. The concert is the biggest so far on the island, both logistically and by attendance. Before Roger arrived, Sting played there, and Roger used the same stage construction as Sting.

With the very sad news of July 11th, our coverage of the concert performed on the island of Malta the preceeding evening has naturally been overshadowed. Nevertheless, as information about the show arrives, we will update this page.

The concert took place without the threatened rain and thunder storm, a huge relief to the capacity crowd. With a large LCD screen, as seen at Hyde Park, the visuals came across loud and clear to the thrilled crowd, as did the sound, which resonated throughout the surrounding Maltese streets.

Amongst the crowd, in the VIP seating at the front, was the Prime Minister and his wife. "Mother should we trust the government" brought a loud audience reaction, met by reportedly nervous chuckles by the PM!

This was the first visit by a real Floyd to an island which has a higher than normal concentration of Floyd fans. The locals made sure Roger got a warm reception, and no doubt they are hoping that he will be back there at some point in the not too distant future.

SHOW REVIEW

By Brain Damage contributor, Dave Challoner

The Maltese and Gozitans love Pink Floyd. From the scratch bands in market squares on hot Saturday nights performing "wish you were here" and "mother" to the bar on Gozo with the lovingly painted wall main cover on it's walls, the maltese and gozitans have a very special fondness for the Floyd. No surprise then that the Luxol parade ground at Pembroke on the island of Malta was aboslutely packed.

The concert ground was a gently sloping expanse of land near Pembroke Barracks, with any surrounding area pressganged into serving as car park space. With no problems at all we made our way from Gozo via ferry to Pembroke, and our golden circle tickets ensured an extremely attractive Maltese policewoman ushered us into the car park from the main road. It was a short stroll from there into the ground where the vip area was being feted with free baseball caps. After a quick tour of the merchandise stalls we took our seats and waited for the show.

The stage preparations were being completed as the projectors were aligned in the big rectangular screen. The stage crew in roadie black, with some riggers in shorts and sunburn. The security staff were highly visible in canary yellow T-Shirts, and the seating promotions girls were in a very delightful tight white cotton shirts and shorts. The audience filtered in and encompassed the entire range of ages and sexes. There were die-hard teenage girl fan's with wall, pulse lines, and prisms face painted on, to grizzled old hippies in loose shirts and sandles. Everyone was excited. Although Floyd/Waters T-Shirts were the predominent dresscode, there were many expensively dressed people and a hude amount of jackie onassis style shades. Oh and a single Peter Gabriel T-Shirt.

Supposedly with a 50% chance of rain, the sky was darkening and clear. The pre-show countdown was clearly underway, as the sounds of Bob Dylan and Neil Young were interspersed with Quad sound effects discretely swirling around our heads, and the back projection of a radio on the main screen.

Suddenly the crowd swirled to their seats like a flock of roosting starlings, prompted by a few last minute instrument tech checks. Then the band appeared on stage. Then out strode Roger.

"Good evening"

"Are you ready?"

And into in the flesh with the crowd going bananas. The band are amazing, and tighter and better sounding than the In the flesh 2002 band, in my opinion. The song ends and the crowd are on their feet. I'm struggling to make notes and appluad at the same time. The guy next to me asks, "Are you a reporter?" to which I reply "I am tonight.".

"Who are you writing for?", he asks.

"Brain Damage"

"I know them. On the internet. They very good!"

Ah 15 minutes of fame. Shame its someone else's.

As the crowd subside in their adoration, a smiling, confident Roger says "Thank you".

The next song was a poingant rendering of Mother during which an orange full moon rose to the right of the stage. Tonight would be perfect.

"Now back into the mists of time" Roger announces and we set the controls for the heart of the sun. There are back projections of Syd, but we don't yet know of his passing. A magnificent performance.

We edge into a shine on that has all the profound shimmer we know and love. The crowd are singing along, and the face painted girls in front of me are really getting into the song. It's one of those nights where everyone is happy.

Then we move into one of my highlights of the night - Have a Cigar. Roger has made some subtle changes to this piece and by heaven it rocks and thunders along. Absolutely stunning, and if there will be a DVD of the tour released, then this alone would make it worth having. At the end, there's a interesting freeze style cut into "Wish you were here" and the crowd would put Anfield to shame.

The with Final Cut graphics being projected, we go into my secong highlight of the evening "southampton Dock", and "Fletcher memorial home". I love these songs, and roger executes them with tenderness, feeling and echoes of the raw madness and rage that run through the album cuts. There were a few cat calls to spoil this section for me, but they came from the standing crowd mostly.

Onto Perfect Sense 1 and 2. There was a significant sing along for these that I didn't expect. The face painted girls knew evry line. I also didn't expect the helium filled astronaut floating over the band during the 2001:a space oddessy section.

Then into leaving Beirut. Nicely done. Bit full of teen angst, but heart felt stuff.

Then into sheep. Superb quad sound all around, and the barbeque effects enough to remove your eyebrows. A rocking outro and then the interval. Sheep has always been on of my favorites, and tonight did not disappoint...

During the intermission, terminal nicotine addicts refreshed the addiction they had fed during the show, and the event became an opportunity for drinking Cisk the excellent local brew. Stage hands removed the rectangular screen and a circular mini Mr-Screen was flown. The Crossed hammer emblem was used to align the projectors, and then an eerie moon was projected onto it.

The second half got underway with the familiar pulse beating and we were off. DSOTM in it entirity. Whoa! I'd heard David's Floyd play this at Earls Court, and will re-live that with the forthcoming DVD, but for my money, this was a better take on the old classic. The vocals were good (not quite David but then nothing can be) but the music was spot on. Breathe was effortless, and on the run was fabulous. Special mention of Graham Broad on drums/percussion for belting out the relentless beats with more precision and finesse than the black watch, while Jon Carin showed what modern keyboards can do in the hands of a master musician.

The sync with the visuals was perfect, without any loss of feelings. Time always sounds good in a loud surround sound, and this did not disappoint and the crowd were roaring along to this classic. Breathe reprise appeared to flow imperceptibly into Great Gig in the Sky and with the real moon watching from on high the superb trio of Katie Kissoon, PP Arnold, and the incomparable Carol Kenyon took us round the heavens with a spine tingling rendition of GGitS.

With scarely a moment to draw breath we were into Money. A sure fire boogie hit and the crowd went wild. Excllent guitar work throughout the show turned into a blistering shower of notes in the solos. The singers were shimmying up a storm and roger prowled the stage as wild and raw as a hungery tiger. With us and then the mood changed, mellowed for a while, until the sing along roaring of the crowd lifted the song back into the stratosphere.

Then music happened. The version of any colour you like performed by this superb band topped all expectations. This music could part the seas and rescue drowning sailors. Jon Carin excelled himself and the visuals team hit it spot on with the projections. All too soon we were in to Brain Damage / Eclipse. Both strong pieces and exceptionally well played on the night. The crowd went wild and screamed along with the words. All too soon it was over.

Roger and the band seemed very pleased with the reception from the crowd. There was a brief respite and then into the encores.

Another brick in the wall part II was greated like a long lost son. Superb guitar work all round. And then into Vera, Bring the boys back home, and comfortably numb. Now I've never been into bring the boys back home, but it went down a storm in this venue. And the version of comfortably numb was simply magnificent.

And that was it! A smiling Roger lead the curtain calls looking hot but happy and legions of young fans (and old ones too) walked happy, smiling and singing into the sunset.

SHOW REVIEW

By Herman Grech, Times Of Malta

He made grown men weep. He sent thousands on a roll down memory lane with his impeccable rendition of Pink Floyd's classics, and the special effects weren't bad either. There seems to be broad consensus that Roger Waters will be a hard act to follow.

The former Pink Floyd frontman leaves today for Lucca, Italy, two days after playing one of the most acclaimed rock concerts in Malta. Promoter Nigel Camilleri was ecstatic about the feedback: "There was so much passion out there that if he tours again next year we will try to bring him to Malta once more.

"I'm convinced those present at Luxol on Monday will return, and many more have now heard about the excellent show".

Roger Waters, 62, went on a trip of Grand Harbour yesterday taking a break from his world tour, which features the entire rendition of The Dark Side of the Moon.

However, he was still to learn that fellow Pink Floyd founder Syd Barrett - who he pays tribute to during Shine on You Crazy Diamond - was discovered dead yesterday, aged 60.

Right from the first note of In The Flesh through to the haunting Comfortably Numb two and a half hours later, Roger Waters took the audience on a mesmerising musical journey.

Kevin Drake has seen all the rock giants play live - from the Rolling Stones to Santana to Van Morrison - but he reckons Monday's concert was the best he's seen.

"He was in a class of his own, and despite his notorious cantankerous attitude, he was so engaged. With Sting it was about the music, with Waters it was an entire experience," Mr Drake said. Nationalist MP Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando agreed, saying Malta has never experienced anything of the sort.

What made the concert even more magical was the audience's overwhelming response as thousands religiously sang along to every song, Mr Pullicino Orlando said.

"I was so absorbed by the concert that I only left the venue two hours after Waters and his band bade farewell."

Labour MP Leo Brincat described the band as world-class musicians, heaping praise especially on backing singer PP Arnold, whose rendition of The Great Gig In The Sky was met with huge applause.

"Maybe it had a political overdose, but this concert certainly lived up to the hype - the promoters are going to have a tough time bettering this," Mr Brincat said.

SHOW REVIEW

From BD contributor, Jesmond V. Zerafa (Edited by Anthony Zarb Dimech)

OH WHAT AN EVENING! WHAT AN EXPERIENCE! A UNIQUE VOYAGE...

Every aspect of the organisation of the concert went smooth, except for some tinyfeedback from an odd speaker that added to the atmosphere. The punctuality and timing were inch perfect. The concert took off as the day entered to a close and the sky was adorned and illuminated witha clear moon that took over from the sun. Itgave justenoughnatural powerto lighten up the sky together withthe effective light effects created by the spectacle. All these natural and technical effects put together purposely gave the evening a spectacular dress that shone over the arena just like a 'crazy diamond'.

The first musical notes of In the Flesh put everyoneon their feet, but in order to respect the persons behind everyone sat down. The excitement created surely does not permit that a concert of this nature can leave anyone seated for long.

As soon as 'Mother'was being played, I did not realise what was happening around me,and I never cried so much in my life as during the performance of this song. I started to feel pity for my country and for myself. I came back to myself when the Maltese Prime Minister, who was presentwas booed when the verse: "Mother shall I trust the government" weresung by Waters.

One song after the other,taken from most of Pink Floyd's and solo albums were played. What surprised me most was that Waters played nothing from Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking, and I thought that he was going to play a small part of the Opera CA IRA.

I had hardly noticed that one and a half hours had already passed and the break had arrived... (20 minutes to the second). My bladderwas nearly ready to explodeafter downing some pints of beer, it was quite obvious I suppose! I put myself in the queue as I continued to listen to the Dark Side of the Moon. Over my shouldersand high in the sky, I could see the bright side of the full moon that was following the concert from up there.

During the song "Us and them,' I went to empty again in the lou. It was eerie darkness inside, but such was nature's strong call, little didI notice the place I had entered.

After Dark Side, came the obligatory encores, especially of Comfortably Numb. ...and then... it was over...

It was a grandiose spectacle, marvellous, unforgettable. I could feel a happiness in my sadness with a consoled and fresh mind. It took me some time to come back to my usual self after hours in space. The feeling was that of being an astronautcaught inspace between one kaleodkoiskic cell and another surrounded by every type of space craft in the infinity of the universe.

It was around twelve midnight when I pulled over my car. Due to the intense traffic, I had to divert to other roads less frequented by traffic so as to avoid some unexpected collision.

I walked a few metres down the street, when, throughtheglass window of the lobby of a bar in a luxury hotel, I spotted the brownish figure of P.P Arnold. I recognised her. It quickly made sense that the Roger Waters' band was there and I asked for him. I was told that he was present, and I did not notice him as I was still under the effect of the concert.

Relaxing on a sofa after a two and a half hour show, deserving of some privacy and rest, I saw himconversing with two of his colleagues. It stillhad not clicked in my mind that I was so close to him. I went closer to the glass pane and took out my REG - The International Roger Waters Fan Club Membership Card and using sign language, Iasked him to jotsomething on it. We both smiled at each other and exchanged hand gestures.

No one, except residents could enter the hotel. The lobby bar was reservedfor the members and crew of the Roger Waters' band.The security personnel had made it clear that no one could enter. Soon after, the security officer called the person responsible for passing messages to Roger Waters. Messages were flowing continuously to Waters at this stage. I was feelingvery embarrassed having to pester a person who wasresting.

AfterRoger Waters attention was drawn to my request, my REG membership card was taken and it seemed like an interminable period until it was given back. Iwas already beginning to think that I would never see it again. But then I saw that there was movement going on inside and my membership card was returned with Roger's autograph on it!

I quickly realised that in order for Roger to autograph my card he required a permanent marker and not a simple biro because the membership card is made of plastic. This was the reason of the delay. I thanked him and made my way out leavingRoger and his teamdiscussingwhat is considered to be one of the greatest and prestigious concerts everheld in Malta.

Tuesday morning, 12 July 2006: I woke up with a headache but not the piercing kind.My mind was quite heavy, but tranquillity reigned over me. I began to put together the previous evening's memories. It had felt almost spiritual, as if the church's congregation had been filled up with a legion of Pink Floyd fanatics lost in a delirium of the live atmosphere.

What a great midsummer's night!!.......How can I ever forget it!!!